Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- PSA Peugeot Citroen needs to discuss
with the government its plan to cut as many as 8,000 jobs and
close a plant, French Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg said
in an interview on Europe 1.

“We don’t accept the plan as it is,” Montebourg said.
“We believe that there have to be restructuring steps, but that
the measures that are currently proposed don’t appear to us to
be of the sort to bring back Peugeot.”

Peugeot’s “difficulties exist, they’re real, it’s
necessary to take steps toward recovery,” he said. “I’ve never
hidden that from the employees, to be honest, it will be
difficult.”

His remarks come the day after he announced “tripartite”
talks led by himself and Labor Minister Michel Sapin with
Peugeot management and unions on Oct. 25 after talking to worker
representatives at the Paris auto show yesterday.

Laurence Parisot, who heads French business organization
Medef, spoke on Europe 1 just before Montebourg’s interview. She
criticized his “excessively interventionist” approach and
warned against the minster “meddling in” a conversation that
should take place just between Peugeot management and workers.

“We can’t, in a great country like France, stay in our
offices,” Montebourg said.